George Ayres moderates a panel discussion on ATSC 3.0 Data Delivery to Automobiles at NAB, Las Vegas
George Ayres moderates a panel discussion on ATSC 3.0 Data Delivery to Automobiles at NAB, Las Vegas
The Weakest Link
This is part two of a three part series on the development of EVs and their supporting infrastructure in the United States. It is said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In terms of the transition away from internal combustion engines towards electric vehicles, charging stations are the said “weakest link.” As essential as gas stations used by their ICE counterparts, EV charging stations are a fast developing but greatly lagging piece of the EV adoption puzzle in the United States. According to the White House in February, there are currently about 130,000 charging stations across the country which service three million or so EVs. Five years ago, the number was a little over half of that. While growing steadily for the last 10 years, the need for car charging stations is on the cusp of an explosion. The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) actively encourages and incentivizes the mass adoption of both light EVs and medium/heavy duty commercial EVs, which will require significantly more powerful and larger charging stations. If the US is to expect tens of millions of new light EVs, medium duty EVs, and heavy duty EVs to hit the road by 2030, substantial steps need to be taken to make sure that there are enough charging stations to meet the massive demand. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=7033500277189233670&li_theme=light The first step will be to provide funding for companies to build the required number of charging stations to meet this demand. S&P Global, a NYC based financial analytics company, estimates that by 2027, the United States will need 1.2 million level 2 chargers and 109,000 level 3 chargers to meet the EV electricity demands. This is a stark increase from current capabilities, and at an estimated need of a 10 to 1 ratio of EVs to charging stations, it will take quite some time to reach these goals. Fortunately however, the Biden administration just this past week announced that over $2.5 billion in funding will be made available to local, city, and county governments for the express purpose of building more EV charging stations and expanding the availability of chargers to underserved areas. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in the White House press release that “extending EV charging infrastructure into traditionally underserved areas will ensure that equitable and widespread EV adoption takes hold,” and will ensure “that charging stations more visible and accessible in our communities addresses the concerns many American drivers have when considering making the switch to electric.” So already, steps are being taken in the right direction to meet infrastructure demands. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=8836377427900808895&li_theme=light The second step for EV charging will be to fix the chronic reliability issues that plague the current charging network. According to a J.D. Power study and recently reported by Automotive News, between Q1 2021 and Q3 2022, failed charging attempts rose from 15% to 21%, and in the last year, nearly 2 in 5 charging attempts were unsuccessful. If the average American is expecting to be able to rely upon an EV to get them from point A to point B, a near 40% failure rate to “refuel” their car will not be sustainable. Reasons for these failures can include out of service chargers, vandalism, software problems, and payment processing issues. These errors are partially caused by the volume of traffic received by each station, with some stations having nearly no downtime at all because of availability issues. This creates a vicious cycle in which there are not enough charging stations, so the ones that do exist are strained to the point where they break, therefore causing less charging stations to be available overall, and so on. To fix the overall problem, some of the resources dedicated to building the new charging stations need to be used to shore up the already existing charging infrastructure dotting the US. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=9178542192637438259&li_theme=light The EV charging station situation is not optimal or perfect by any means, but when a revolutionary new technology enters the market, there are always bound to be some bumps along the road towards implementation. Continued investment from private companies and at all levels of government will be required to fix the problems outlined above, but fortunately great funding and emphasis is already being put into this widely acknowledged problem. The goal of the US government is to create a seamless transition to EVs in which charging a car has the same level of convenience as filling a car up at a gas station, and by dedicating a combined total of $7.5 billion to doing so, it shows that the necessary funding and support exist to make it a reality. Stay tuned in two weeks for Part 3 of AMA’s story on the development of EV infrastructure in the United States. Learn more about how the AutoMobility Advisors team can help you and your business seize the amazing opportunities to serve the new mobility market. Click on the link below and get in touch, we’d love to talk with you! #evcharginginfrastructure #evcharging #ev #electricvehicles #futuremobility #newmobility #connectedvehicles #digitaltransformation #AutoMobility Advisors
An Automobility Start-up from ITALY!
Innovation and technological development in the automotive industry is a global phenomenon. Companies hailing from all over the world create and invent revolutionary products and services, driving the advancement of technology forward at a breakneck pace. Hailing from Rome, Italy, 2hire, an auto mobility company specializing in car sharing, rental, and connected services, is one of these global innovators. Founded in 2015 as a moped-sharing company for students of LUISS University in Rome, 2hire has humble beginnings. The company quickly became something more though, transitioning from focusing solely on scooters to connected vehicles in 2016. CEO and Co-Founder Filippo Agostino, COO, and Co-Founder Elisabetta Mari, and Head of Product Design Giacomo Agostino describe this transformation the best: “The 2hire team is composed of tech experts who have a strong background in the communication protocols of vehicles. Our team was originally founded with the mission of bringing shared and sustainable mobility to the city of Rome through the launch and operation of an electric moped-sharing service. However, over time, we have pivoted towards developing the technology that supports these types of services. Our approach is software-based, which sets us apart from our competitors and allows us to offer a hardware solution that is easy to install and customizable for each mobility operator’s specific needs.” By 2017, 2hire had rolled out a brand new prototype device that was able to remotely lock and unlock the doors of a Fiat 500L. Securing multiple investments from venture capitalist firms, 2hire was able to turn this prototype piece of hardware into a universal device and launched an API layer named the “Adapter,” which would become the foundation of their business, and allowed them to take the company international. Less than two years later, 2hire was providing mobility services to vehicles and companies in Italy, Spain, France, and across South America. Driven by a relentless passion for sustainable technology, the 2hire team took a small startup firm and turned it into a rapidly growing global presence. When asked what motivated them to push through the trials and tribulations of being a startup, Filippo, Elisabetta, and Giacomo asserted that they “have always been interested in the mobility industry and saw a significant need for innovation in the car rental and fleet management space. The idea of helping people move more efficiently and sustainably was very appealing to us, and we saw a huge opportunity to make a difference in this industry.” Now in the first quarter of 2023, 2hire is as ambitious as ever. Thus far, the company’s technology has received widespread acclaim in Europe and South America. With over 15 million cars that can access the company’s services across 100 cities in 23 countries, it is no surprise that their technology is known for saving time and operational costs due to its ability to provide innovative solutions that help mobility providers in the car rental, peer to peer car sharing, car sharing, and fleet industries. With all of these successes in Europe and South America, 2hire is making the leap into the North American market with the aim of becoming an essential partner for mobility providers as they transition towards fully connected fleets (i.e. rental cars, delivery vans, corporate vehicles). Recently, Filippo, Elisabetta, and Giacomo traveled from Italy to Boston and Atlanta to showcase their technology to potential partner companies. With this trip to the United States, it’s clear that 2hire is ready to take the next step in expanding their business to an even larger international market. Having interests expressed in this technology by OEMs, major rental car companies, and car sharing platforms, 2hire demonstrates their ability to provide bona fide seamless integration solutions between service providers and connected vehicles while also supporting automotive companies in making their cars easily accessible to a growing ecosystem of digital service providers. From here, 2hire can only go up as they gain traction and secure partnerships in the United States. Taking a business from a small startup composed of college friends to a global company doing business with Fortune 500 corporations is no small feat. When asked for advice on lessons for other startup companies in the mobility space, the 2hire team shared three key pieces of guidance: For more information on 2hire’s technology and business, visit their website and LinkedIn page. Information on Filippo, Elisabetta, Giacomo, and the other members of the 2hire team can be found on each of their LinkedIn pages. And you can learn more about how the AutoMobility Advisors team works with companies like 2hire and can help you and your business seize the amazing opportunities waiting for innovative companies ready to serve the new mobility market. Click on the link below and get in touch, we’d love to talk with you!
Infrastructure Implications
On Wednesday, January 25th, US Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced legislation to the senate that would prevent automakers from receiving EV tax credits for vehicles that are unable to meet the new battery and mineral standards outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA, penned in part by Senator Manchin, had originally allowed for a transition period for automakers to adjust to new regulations requiring minerals used in EVs to be mined in North America. With the majority of rare earth minerals (REMs) used in EV production sourced from outside of the United States, automakers and suppliers were already facing a steep uphill battle to move their mining operations to the US. Acknowledging this challenge, a grace period was built in to lessen the financial burden of this transition and ensure that EV credits were able to be properly distributed to OEMs. Senator Manchin’s new bill is intended to keep manufacturing in America, as he said in a press conference on Wednesday. Manchin told reporters that “the IRA is first-and-foremost an energy security bill, and the EV tax credits were designed to grow domestic manufacturing and reduce our reliance on foreign supply chains for the critical minerals needed to produce EV batteries.” Further, Manchin explained that “being an automotive powerhouse is in our blood which is why it is shameful that we rely so heavily on foreign suppliers, particularly China, for the batteries that power our electric vehicles. We cannot continue down this path.” Taking a protectionist stance, it is unclear whether Manchin will have the support to push this bill through the Democrat controlled Senate and Republican controlled House. This has caused some rumblings of concern from OEMs who say that it will take two to three years for them to properly move their mining and manufacturing operations solely on American soil. For now, the IRA remains as it was signed into law last year, with standards for material sourcing increasing 10% a year through the end of the decade. It remains to be seen if Senator Manchin’s new rules are able to overcome political hurdles to be signed into law, but one thing remains certain: automakers will need to spend a lot of time and money to ensure eventual compliance with the IRA. With these potential new logistical challenges, OEMs will have to consider the prospect of completely revamping their supply chains and finding new ways to cut back on costs. The foreign outsourcing of REMs and critical materials for batteries and EVs is in itself a cost cutting measure, as domestically most of these capabilities were abandoned during the 1960s and 1970s. Forcing OEMs to immediately shift these operations to North America will undoubtedly present great costs and also open the door to new opportunities for domestic suppliers. Both commercial and light EVs are experiencing an explosion in demand in the US and abroad, as their market share grows higher each year. With Senator Manchin’s new proposal, the need for increased mining and manufacturing in the US could move at a furiously fast pace, and domestic Tier 1’s should be ready to step in to fill the gaps that OEMs need to meet customer demand and federal tax requirements. For consumers, this new proposal could have a variety of noticeable effects on their options and buying power. Due to the possible increase in costs, US consumers may find themselves paying more for EVs and potentially having to wait for OEMs to catch up with demand. Private vehicle sales may struggle as light EV demand could outpace production capabilities. However, with less stringent requirements for commercial EVs and the immense tax credits medium and heavy duty vehicles are eligible for, business customers will be able to largely replace their fleets of ICE trucks/vans at a reasonable price. Senator Manchin’s new bill may have the potential to create the perfect storm for a rapid and massive adoption of commercial EVs across the country and by many different types of businesses and government departments. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=7935497539836308667&li_theme=light Though in its infancy, Senator Manchin’s modification of the IRA could bring about a variety of changes that OEMs, suppliers, and consumers need to pay close attention to. Great opportunity already exists on the supply chain side of the market, and Manchin’s bill could increase these opportunities drastically. Commercial vehicle operators as well must be ready to adapt to the financial benefits of investing in medium/heavy duty EVs as OEMs see the benefits in their development, production, and adoption industrywide. The EV world is rapidly expanding and evolving, and only time will tell what the future holds for the most important segment of the automotive industry. Learn more about how the AutoMobility Advisors team can help you and your business seize the amazing opportunities waiting for innovative companies ready to serve the new mobility market. Click on the link below and get in touch, we’d love to talk with you!
The Durability of Automobility: How Automotive Tech Benefits from High-Tech Layoffs
AutoMobility Roadmap Newsletter The Durability of Automobility: How Automotive Tech Benefits from High-Tech Layoffs December 2, 2022 In the last 10 years or so, high tech has evolved into a sort of weathervane for indicating the health of the economy. Companies such as Apple, Google, Tesla, and Microsoft seem to serve as indicators for periods of economic growth and retraction, and their success is often tied to the general health of the global economy. Automakers were similarly prominent, having held these positions of power for decades. Over the past decade or two, the automotive and high tech spaces have become increasingly intertwined, birthing automobility and the high tech automotive sector. Crossing over between two formerly distinct industries, how does the automotive tech sector react, and potentially benefit from, the recent downturn in high-tech? This is a more intriguing and productive question for the automobility sector to ask, having serious implications for the future of automobility and the health of the sector despite a high-tech economic recession, Last month, billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter in a deal valued at $44 billion and since then, the company has entered a spiral of layoffs and mass controversy. As of this past week, only 12 percent of Twitter’s pre takeover staff remain employed by the firm. Thousands of white collar employees have been laid off, from coders to top executives. Driven by Elon Musk’s controversial policies and firebrand rhetoric, more still have quit of their own volition, opting to move on to other jobs in the sector. Suddenly, thousands of high-tech employees have found themselves out of work, and where do they go? Meta, headed by Mark Zuckerberg, and the controlling interest in Facebook, Instagram, and the Metaverse virtual reality service, has suffered in kind. The company has experienced an enormous devaluation, with stock prices plunging over 65% from their peak in 2021. Going beyond controversial figures like Musk and Zuckerbeg, Marketwatch reports that Amazon, HP, and Google are expecting to make cuts over the next few years, and that there were nearly 60,000 tech layoffs in 2022, a comparable number to statistics from the Great Recession. Where do all these people go? https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/tech-layoffs To put it simply, there is a growing supply of experienced high-tech employees waiting to be hired. This is an opportunity for OEMs and automotive tech companies to fill the roles many of them stated they would be adding as many OEMs announced in the past two years that their strategic intent was to transform to high tech companies creating Software Defined Vehicles. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dalebuss/2022/11/30/auto-industry-leads-in-digital-transformation-investments/?sh=3759147f4e90 The OEMs that made these announcements were faced with a significant challenge of finding qualified employees. Speaking to broad trends in high-tech, especially if the fears of recession come true, and automobility companies and OEMs continue to be resilient to economic challenges, a mass hiring of qualified high-tech employees may not just be on the horizon but may be achievable sooner than expected. The automotive technology and automobility sectors have exploded hand in hand with self-driving vehicles, EVs, battery development, and a myriad of other emerging and increasingly popular technologies. With over 2200 exhibitors from across the world and a crowd expected to total over 100,000 people at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in January, the automobility sector needs to come prepared and in full force, ready to showcase their resilience to recession and an openness to taking advantage of where high-tech is faltering. https://www.ces.tech/News/Press-Releases/CES-Press-Release.aspx?NodeID=954077ec-31f0-4889-b4ec-b6af7a3ad217 As the conditions of the economy and market continue to fluctuate and evolve, the ball is now in the court of the automotive industry and the automobility companies to take advantage of growth and profitability while other sectors are more vulnerable. EVs, autonomous drive, P2P carshare, battery companies, and a variety of other segments of automotive technology are growing at an explosive pace, with Forbes reporting that the market share for EVs more than doubled from 2.7% in Q2 of 2021 to 5.6% of Q2 in 2022. Looking to the future, these trends are expected to only increase, and all of the surrounding technological development will need to keep pace with public demand and government regulations. To answer the questions stated earlier, automotive technology companies need to be ready to jump on opportunities created by high-tech’s recent struggles and come out of the tumultuous conditions of the last couple years optimistic and ready to compete in one of the world’s most promising industries. And if you’d like help in finding the best tech talent, you can work with a specialized AutoMobility recruiting provider like Avant Future Mobility. They place hundreds of battery engineers, data scientists, software developers, and AI/ML experts into automotive companies large and small. Maybe they can help you too! https://www.linkedin.com/company/avantfuturemobility/?originalSubdomain=uk You can subscribe to the AutoMobility Roadmap for free and continue to follow the dynamic and changing automotive mobility world. If you’d like to engage directly with the team at AutoMobility Advisors, contact us or contact us via Linked In. View and Subscribe to the Automobility Roadmap on LinkedIn here. Home Let us help you succeed in AutoMobility! Edit Template Edit Template Contact Us Today Name Email Message Send Edit Template Get to Know Us About Our Team Consulting Services Events AMA News Get the AutoMobility Roadmap Newsletter White Papers & Reports AMA Thought Leadership Let’s Connect Contact Us Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on YouTube Copyright @2024 AutoMobilityAdvisors, All Rights Reserved. Edit Template
Carpe EV Diem
Automobility Roadmap Newsletter – A perspective on all the changes in automotive transportation and the technology that’s now driving you. This week’s topic Carpe EV Diem and the EV adoption future.
The High Cost of EV Adoption Today
George Ayres Automotive | Leader | Sales | Marketing | Mobility | Connected | Electric | Autonomous | Shared | Revenue | Growth 18 articles The transformation of the auto industry from internal combustion engines to battery power is accelerating, no doubt about it. And the infrastructure, charging networks, and government support for this change are increasing. Consumer themselves are listening, learning, and becoming more interested in moving towards EV’s too. The article below describes a recent Consumer Reports survey that said 14% of people would definitely purchase an EV, but twice this number (28%) definitely “would not” consider an EV. What about the 58% in the middle? What will it take to move them? I think the main issue at the moment is not range, charging infrastructure, or fear of new tech. It’s simply cost. EV’s are expensive right now. Too expensive! And it seems things will be this way for at least 3 years. Let’s look at why. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=8431522422095463804&li_theme=dark It’s clear that soon we will have many varieties of electric vehicles available, and some will be more affordable. All OEM’s are moving quickly. Just take a look at the center-spread of this week’s Automotive News (shown below) and you can see that every Automaker is moving faster to transform their product line-up to more EV’s. And States like California are moving to full EV only. But much of this terrific new product development is not helping buyers yet, as the models currently available for sale are all just too expensive. For example, the EV market leader, Tesla, has not expanded its model range for awhile, and even the Model 3 starts at $45k. Ford has the F-150 Lightning and Mach E, but they both cost $40k or more, and very hard to get. And yes, the Cadillac Lyriq sold out in a few hours, but it is in very limited production and costs over $60,000 which is much more expensive than the majority of the buyers in the new car market can afford. And because GM is no longer eligible, there is not even an EV tax credit for this vehicle. But GM did recently reduce the price of the Chevy Bolt. So GM is clearly thinking about EV affordability. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=8673126474556867075&li_theme=dark But all of the new EV vehicles are not here yet. And people need to buy something, or upgrade their current vehicle, and can’t wait. Supply is constrained due to the ongoing semi-conductor chip shortage. And component material prices for batteries are increasing, especially for lithium and cobalt, due to the overall growing EV demand. See the article below from Alix Partners, a research firm, outlining the current situation. One key point they mention is this comparison. “At $3,662 per vehicle (in the US), ICE raw-material content is nearly double pre-pandemic levels. This pales in comparison to BEV raw-material content, which is now $8,255 per vehicle. The disparity is driven largely by cobalt, nickel, and lithium prices.” https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=7764712561928756266&li_theme=dark While new advances in battery technology like “solid-state” batteries promise better range and greater materials supply, these batteries currently cost four times more than standard lithium-ion batteries, exaggerating the current problem. Toyota is well placed to lead in this area, but it will be awhile before we see the majority of vehicles with solid-state batteries. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=9124043172319042537&li_theme=dark Add in rising global inflation, which means you can buy less for the same money, and a war in Ukraine which keeps energy markets volatile, and no wonder consumers are hesitating. While they are paying $5 for gasoline, and sure don’t like it, coming up with the cash for a new EV is getting harder and harder. For example, the average new car payment is now over $700 per month. Since the cost of borrowing is rising as the Fed raises interest rates to combat inflation, car buyers can either buy less car, or they have to put up more of their income for a car. Since all other prices are also rising, like mortgage payments, groceries, and school supplies, they feel the squeeze. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=7812184282103910342&li_theme=dark And the average car loan length is now six years, which means that consumers that buy ICE vehicles today will be “upside down” a few more years longer, meaning they will owe more for the car than the car is worth. A negative equity situation. We have seen this phenomenon in the car market more than once, and it never works out for the either the consumer or the automaker. It delays purchases and keeps people trapped in their old technology. The average car on the road in the US is currently 12.2 years, which is much longer than historically we have seen. The current financing market dynamics are suggesting this may get even longer. The promise of a new EV will be in the distant future for too many. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=8622472421372719983&li_theme=dark So if OEM’s want people to move to EV’s they need to bring affordable EV’s to market. They need to work with the government and their ecosystem to ensure that there is wide penetration of EV infrastructure. And of course the government needs to increase EV incentives and encourage more switching from ICE to EV, and not with just tax cuts. What about helping people pay for installing home chargers? While there is good commitment for this from the current administration, these programs are not yet simple, practical, and easy to access. Why not a “voucher” system for anyone buying an EV from a dealer, or even online, to receive a rebate on the cost of a home charger. Tax credits are hard to access and too far removed from the original cost outlay. Consumers need relief on this cost more quickly. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=6987414249488379809&li_theme=dark Overall consumer will move to electric vehicles, the trend is now inevitable, as product development cycles for automakers are many years long. The ocean liner turns slowly. So we will see lots of EV choices for new car buyers in a few years. And high volume categories like Pick-up trucks will even be very EV
The Auto Digital Experience Fight Club
George Ayres Automotive | Leader | Sales | Marketing | Mobility | Connected | Electric | Autonomous | Shared | Revenue | Growth 18 articles Ok, what happens when you put all the competitors in a room and tell them to start swinging while simultaneously placing bets to pick the winners (and of course the losers) too? You guessed it, a fight club where it’s everyone for themselves. Makes a good movie perhaps, but does it make for a good way to digitally transform the automotive user experience? Are owners, drivers, riders, and fleets better off with tools that only work in one setting, or vehicle, and not in another? Do you need to put on a new pair of digital driving shoes each time you jump in a different car? Well, currently we are witnessing a sort of fight club mindset within car software experience development. It may get a little bloody, so hang on. First, some boundary, or “ringside ropes” terminology to clarify this discussion. In the battle for the Digital Experience within Automobiles there are many terms, but all eventually come down to the same thing: How the car works when you’re either inside it, or controlling it remotely when outside of it. We can include ideas like “Software-Defined Vehicle” and the in-vehicle “Operating System,” in this mix. And proprietary names like Apple CarPlay or Google’s Android Auto are part of it too. And Amazon Alexa, as a way to control the experience with your voice, is included. And now we can add new names like “Ultifi,” General Motor’s new “end-to-end software platform” that is “designed to unlock new vehicle experiences and connect customers’ digital lives” as their announcement recently said. All of these things are coming together very rapidly, and the gloves have now been taken off all the participants. They used to play nice together, but now it’s getting serious. For decades of course, only the carmakers controlled how the car worked; how you turned the radio on, adjusted the climate control, or how the car collected data. Then they started working with other companies like Verizon and WirelessCar to enable “telematics,” a way to transmit vehicle information to an off-board platform and for the vehicle to receive instructions “over-the-air” or OTA. Then smartphones came along and customers started to complain that if they actually complied with the local highway safety rules, and did not use or talk on their handheld phone while driving, then the car effectively became a black hole for them. They were “off the grid” in terms of data and communication when they were driving. Since nearly everyone now relies on text, email, internet, and voice, to do basically anything, the automakers then needed a way to integrate these phones into the car so they could be used on the move without distraction. So Apple was given access to the vehicle and introduced Carplay, and Google was given access and introduced Android Auto. This was a love/hate relationship for most Auto OEM’s because when they give access, they lose control of the experience. Sometimes they forget of course that customers really LIKE their Apple i-phone experience, and enjoying this in their car as well is a good thing for owner loyalty. Once the door was open and the tech companies had access, they started pushing on it harder. Many Auto OEM’s have now signed up to let them too, and we’ll see if they are taking a punch in the process. At right is a recent listing from Google about the OEM’s that use the Android Automotive O/S. And just this week Apple made a big announcement about the new CarPlay and its ability to “more deeply integrate with a car’s hardware.” Ouch! Here is a view of what they mean. Without leaving the Apple interface you will be able to adjust climate controls, for example, so that you’re not jumping between CarPlay and the vehicle controls, keeping you inside the Apple O/S while you drive. It’s kind of like pushing you up against the ropes and holding you there awhile. From a carmaker point of view, ceding control of the customer experience for actually operating the car must be gut-wrenching. But they have already done it for music and “infotainment” so why not for other functions? But where does Apple stop and the Automaker’s own systems begin? How will GM’s Ultifi, for example, work with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay? What is Ultifi giving up? Who is going to win the fight for control of the experience? It’s a melee today. Below as great chart from my friends at MotorMindz that shows a few good examples of how some Auto OEM’s are betting on winning this fight themselves. Of course for over 100 years automakers have controlled how their cars got built, but once sold, they were done. The only things they needed to worry about was paying for repairs under the warranty. Now they want to control, or at least participate in, how their cars get “operated and updated” by the first, second, and even third owners. Over the “lifetime” of your vehicle, they want to continuously upgade how your car works, help you enjoy improvements in operations and performance (and charge you for this) and generally make a car like a smartphone, with easy to install OTA updates. But what happens when Apple decides they don’t want to make that change to how the climate control gets adjusted, either because they are not ready or because they are not getting paid to do it? Does the Automaker have any recourse to force them? Giving up control has a downside if you are an OEM. Of course, the driver or passenger wants the best experience, so delays in making updates, or incompatibility stemming from a fight for control of the experience, may end up disappointing users, who will remember who’s car worked seamlessly, and who’s didn’t. One of the reasons Apple has been successful across phones, computers, tablets, and even tv’s is